Deadliest Mistakes For Search Advertisers

October 24, 2017August 24, 2020

Chad Faith

Director of Content

Deadliest Mistakes For Search Advertisers

Search advertisers need to be aware that it is the little things that can make the biggest impact. We are referring to the metrics you are measuring, your landing page design, the way you combine ads, and more. It is common for people to want to master search advertising faster. However, you must also learn to avoid failure in the process. Here are some of the deadliest mistakes you do not want to make:

Deadliest Mistake #1: Exceeding Your PCC Budget

In the world of PPC marketing, overspending is something that happens pretty frequently and is easily done. If you are managing several accounts or even hundreds of different campaigns, it is going to be difficult to spot potential overspends and keep track of budgets yourself. That’s why you should consider making budget tracking as automated and simple as possible. Today, it is possible to create a script to export month-to-date PPC spend into Google docs. You may even simplify the process even further by implementing some basic Excel formulas. All of this information will tell you whether you require an increase or decrease in spend.

Deadliest Mistake #2: Standard and Accelerated Ad Delivery

In most cases, you have to choose between standard or accelerated delivery. At first glance, the former seems like a better and more affordable choice. Not so fast. Let’s say that your campaign budget is $24 per day and your bids are set at $1. Google will assume that you are going to receive one click/hr throughout the entire day, and may only serve your ad about 30 times on an hourly basis. Now, what if 1,000 searches occur for your targeted keywords in that campaign every hour? You could miss out on almost 98% of them because Google has noted that you cannot afford it.

Okay, what about accelerated ad delivery? If you are using it, then learnt the day after (after launching it) that your budget had run out after the first hour, you still have time to take action. Obviously, you need to increase your daily budget or decrease your bids in order to continue appearing for the entire day. The thing is: whichever delivery method you choose, there is still the risk of overspending. Standard delivery forms the illusion that you can afford to be visible all day long, but you can’t because Google decides when to serve your ads, e.g. remarketing ads. You need to look at each option carefully and select one that can alert you quickly when something is wrong, and put you back in control without delay.

Deadliest Mistake #3: Utilizing Broad Match

Broad match is one of the major causes of irrelevant traffic and wasted spend. It does not provide the campaign manager with sufficient information about a visitor’s intent. That’s why Google may not be able to serve them the most appropriate ad. In addition, broad match may lead to cross-matching between ad groups. For instance, body butter and margarine may be matched together. If the user is served the wrong ad, they are less likely to click-through. Now, even if they do, they may end on the wrong landing page.

Deadliest Mistake #4: Not Having an Optimized Landing Page

PPC ads and cluttered homepages do not blend well together. Your ads should always lead your target audience to an optimized landing page. You want your visitors to take an action, click on your CTAs, and eventually become an official customer. Always align your landing pages with your PPC ads to fulfill this purpose. The goal is to make your visitors feel that you can solve their problem or evoke their curiosity for a start. So, go ahead and answer the visitors’ query by featuring a service offered by your company or providing information on a certain topic. If possible, do add social media mentions, media coverage, or testimonials that you have on hand as well. This helps give your brand a major boost in terms of credibility and reputation.